To obtain visas, it is customary to apply to the consulate of the country where you want to go. But such agencies exist at Embassies in very limited quantities. Russia has a vast territory, and it’s unprofitable to travel to Moscow to apply. Greece, in addition to the Consulate General in Moscow, opened two more of the same agencies with the same powers - in St. Petersburg and Novorossiysk. But this is not a way out of the situation. Therefore, in order to facilitate access to this southern European country for Russian tourists, her government introduced a new service. It is called the Greece Visa Application Center.
What is it and what real benefit does the applicant apply to this service point? To say that the Greek Visa Application Center is just an intermediary transmitting your documents to the Consular Section means nothing to explain. Of course, you can apply for the purpose of obtaining permission to enter Hellas and any travel agency. However, in some of them you will be offered to buy the whole tour. That is, you will be required to pay for tickets, hotels, excursions. And plus to this - and for the work of the tour operator itself.
Greece Visa Application Center has fixed prices for its services. In addition, there are a lot of such points where you can apply for a visa and get your passport with the coveted sticker in Russia. Judge for yourself: Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Samara, Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnoyarsk and Kaliningrad, Irkutsk and Ufa, Khabarovsk and Vladivostok, St. Petersburg and Murmansk, Novorossiysk and Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar and Sochi ... As you can see, geography such centers are indeed the widest. To submit documents to this service point, you do not need to get out at distant lands.
In all cases of entry into the country, you need to contact the Greek Visa Application Center? Not always. As a rule, only at the opening of the usual short-term (up to 90 days) tourist visa. If you are going to the country of Homer and Plato to study or work, you will have to visit - and personally - one of the country's Consulates General in Moscow, St. Petersburg or in Novorossiysk.
What are the benefits of filing documents through these service points? Suppose if you are a resident of the capital, you have two options to choose from. Go directly to the consulate or to the Greece Visa Application Center in Moscow (17 Nikitsky Boulevard). The first option requires pre-recording.
And if you plan to go to the sunny beaches of Rhodes or Athens in just a few days, the situation becomes very problematic - after all, the line for an appointment with the window can be extended for a month. In the centers, they are waiting for you without any entries and queues. All members of your family traveling to Greece should come to the consulate, and only one may come to the center with the original certificates confirming kinship.
If you do not know exactly which package of documents is required, how to fill out a questionnaire or which photo to take, welcome to the Greece Visa Application Center! St. Petersburg, Sochi or Ufa - everywhere you will find a standard set of services. Right in the main hall you can take the necessary photos, print files, and Xerox documents. Employees of the centers will help you fill out questionnaires, tell you what certificates are needed for the quickest opening of a visa. Courier delivery will save you from the hassle of coming for a passport, and the Track service will allow you to be aware of what stage your dossier is at.